Last weekend, my niece and nephew popped in for a sleepover with my kids (A.K.A. cousin camp). As luck would have it, Greg at Candy.com stocked me with all the necessary supplies to make chocolatey Halloween suckers with the kids, ranging in age from 6 to 10.

The kids loved “painting” the eyes, nose, and mouth on the Jack-O-Lanterns and Skulls with chocolate after the pops cooled (we put them in the freezer). We found that small craft paint brushes worked best.

Another tip? Insert Icing Eyeballs into the molds before pouring in the melted chocolate. I didn’t try this trick, but Greg at Candy.com says it works like a charm.

The kids did everything but microwave the chocolate and had at least two hours of fun creating and eating their treats on a stick. The final products might not be Martha Stewart worthy, but not bad for the young chocolatiers.

I am going to experiment with more molds from Candy.com to see what else we can cook up at the Gillerlain household over the holidays. My son is planning on making chocolate suckers for an upcoming fundraiser in lieu of a standard baked goods sale. My thought is to package the suckers in clear mini cello bags and finish them off with a twist-tie bow. Why not give it a whirl?

I’ve got Halloween costumes on the brain. I’ve been reading press releases and blogs predicting the most popular costumes to hit the streets this Oct. 31. Not surprisingly, Lady Gaga, Iron Man, Toy Story, Alice In Wonderland, and Jersey Shore characters seem to be topping most of the lists.

Those are all fine costume themes, but not necessarily all that clever (although there is a lot you could do with Lady Gaga and the “Situation.” Hmmm, I see a couple’s costume in the making.)

(Shameless plug: If you haven’t seen Candy.com’s gynormous selection of candy bouquets, it’s well worth the click. The Party in a Pumpkin Care Package bouquet is great for college students. And, now through Sunday 10/10, Halloween treats at Candy.com are 10% off. Use code “Halloween10″ at checkout.)

Don’t you love the Walkmans/headsets and the woman carrying a generic jar of peanut butter down the street—just because? Things were so much simpler back then.

If this commercial were shot today, the guy would be reading The New York Times on his iPad while unfurling a Hershey’s bar from a plastic wrapper, and not the silver foil (remember the shiny silver foil?).

The girl would be juggling her Blackberry and Starbucks cup, while trying to pull out a packet of Justin’s Almond Butter from her laptop bag.

The two would bump into each other, and either A: Not notice, B: Agree to text or follow on Facebook, or C: Sue for bodily harm.

Taking you further down memory lane, here’s a vintage ad that’s racking up thousands of views on YouTube …

For the record, Tootsie Roll Industries, stands by its age-old answer on how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. On the company’s FAQ page, I found this statement: “It depends on a variety of factors such as the size of your mouth, the amount of saliva, etc. Basically, the world may never know.”

Last stop down the lane today: “candy too good for kids.” I never understood the rationale behind promoting a candy as too good for kids. When I was a kid, I didn’t want to even try Toffifay because I thought it must taste yucky if it’s not made for kids. Obviously, the reverse psychology didn’t work on me.